Mahalo to all those who participated in the Olowalu Talk Story Workshop. With a total attendance of 1,350, this community-based planning event was successful in providing a truly open process for the people of Maui to share their ideas, thoughts and concerns on re-establishing a walkable and sustainable community at Olowalu.

The Workshop was the first step in the community-based planning process. We look forward to continuing our open discussions with the people of Maui to refine the plans that came out of the Olowalu Talk Story Workshop.

Aloha, Bill Frampton and Dave Ward

About The Workshop

Olowalu Talk Story Community-Based Planning Workshop
By Dave Ward and DPZ Staff

This Planning Workshop was an intensive one-week planning session where Maui citizens, public agencies, world-class town designers, and other interested groups collaborated to create a vision for re-establishing a sustainable community at Olowalu. Everyone on Maui was invited and encouraged to participate in the workshop. It provided a forum for ideas and offered the unique advantage of giving immediate feedback to both the designers and workshop participants. More importantly, it allowed everyone who participated to be a mutual author in the plan to re-establish Olowalu.

Olowalu Talk Story was held from November 15th-21st at the King Kamehameha Clubhouse (former Grand Waikapu Country Club) in Waikapu. The team of design experts and consultants set up a full working office, complete with drafting equipment, supplies, computers, copy machines, fax machines, and telephones. Members of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company led public meetings throughout the week focusing on important land use topics. Additionally, everyone was invited to participate in informal "open design meetings" while plans were actively being developed.

Through brainstorming and design activity, many goals were accomplished during the Planning Workshop. First, each individual who participated cultivated a personal stake in the ultimate vision. Second, the world-class design team obtained critical information about "how we live on Maui" to produce a plan and accompanying documents that address our local culture and aspirations apart from the physical aspects of design. Finally, since the input of various groups was gathered at one event, it was possible to hear many concerns, swiftly resolve issues, forge a common way forward and create a balanced plan during the workshop.

Ultimately, the purpose of Olowalu Talk Story was to establish a plan for Olowalu that reflects the collaboration of Maui's community ideas with world-class design concepts. Such a plan may be utilized in making sound decisions for future planning processes.